Intel Lands Significant Contract With Microsoft for Its 18A Process; Google, NVIDIA, and Others Poised to Adopt

Okay, so, imagine Intel Foundry as a band that just dropped a killer album with this new 18A process. You know what I mean? It’s like their big shot at fame, or their “iPhone moment,” if you want to get specific about it. Why am I rambling about this? Well, turns out, the 18A is getting some juicy attention from the tech bigwigs.

Alright, picture this: Intel’s all jazzed up, trying to score a breakthrough. Not just for cash, although let’s be real, money talks. It’s more about stealing the limelight from TSMC. The balance tilted TSMC’s way after some hefty dealings with the last U.S. president, which made a lot of folks think, “Hey, why not try TSMC in the U.S. instead of flying off to Taiwan?” So, Intel’s like, “Wait up! We’ve got 18A.” Korean media (because oddly, that’s where the scoop’s from) mentions chats between Intel and big names like NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Google. Yeah, those guys.

Intel kind of flaunted their 18A stuff recently. It’s “advanced” and “made-in-the-USA.” Sounds fancy, right? And it’s supposed to stand toe-to-toe with TSMC’s N2 thingy in performance. Like, it’s way ahead of their old Intel 3 node. So, no wonder everyone’s buzzing.

Quick side note: I saw an image floating around that supposedly ties into all this, but honestly, who knows if that’s even relevant. Just one of those things people put in to keep you interested or something.

Now, a little twist. The big interest in 18A might have something to do with Intel shaking things up at the top, bringing in a new CEO—Lip-Bu Tan. This guy, apparently, is all about shaking off the old “IDM 2.0” strategy and focusing on cooler stuff like semiconductor design inspiration and whatnot. Maybe that’s why everyone’s like, “Hey, what’s Team Blue up to now?”

Oh, and TSMC’s lines are super busy. Like, really swamped. So, everyone’s looking at options. And Intel’s here, like, “We’ve got something shiny!” Samsung’s also in the mix somewhere, but they haven’t quite hit the mark yet. They’re still playing catch up or so it seems.

So there you have it. Intel’s hopping on stage with this 18A thing, and the crowd seems pretty interested. Who’d have thought, right?